the journal of a vintage clothing aficionado for roughwear,selvedge denim and overalls fanatics....

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

EARLY 1900'S DULUTH STYLE MINER'S BACKPACK

What we have featured today,is what i believe to be an early 1900's Duluth style backpack.This bag belonged to an iron miner from Minnesota and has that great "been there done that" look that i crave .beside its great age the leather straps are in an incredibly good condition ,making this baby still usable....

It's now a given ,that the rise of the steel industry in the United States drove America's growth as a world economic power.It wasn't until the 19th century that steel manufacturing became a dominant industry. With the abundant iron ore deposits around Lake Superior and easy access to cheap water transportation on the Great Lakes, the Midwest became the center of American heavy industry...

Minnesota's iron ore was actually discovered while miners were on their way to seek gold. Since their aim was gold, the iron was ignored. As it turned out, the iron would become more valuable to northern Minnesota than the gold.

The mines were operated by hard working miners,using shovels and pickaxes to extract the precious ore from the rock and mules will haul it out of the mine. Later, steam shovels and powered tools were used.

Minnesota mines provided jobs for many European immigrants. Most of them jobs,as very physically demanding,were of course for unskilled workers... .

Towns were built around the mines. As the mines expanded, many towns were moved to new locations because they were built on top of iron ore. Part of the city of Hibbing, known as the "North Forty", was moved to make way for mine expansion. If you visit Hibbing today, you can see remains of sidewalks, house foundations and street lights near the Hull Rust Mahoning Mine overlook.....